title: Extremely reduced dispersal and gene flow in an island bird.
abstract: The Réunion grey white-eye, Zosterops borbonicus, a passerine bird endemic to Réunion Island in the Mascarene archipelago, represents an extreme case of microgeographical plumage colour variation in birds, with four distinct colour forms occupying different parts of this small island (2512 km(2)). To understand whether such population differentiation may reflect low levels of dispersal and gene flow at a very small spatial scale, we examined population structure and gene flow by analysing variation at 11 microsatellite loci among four geographically close localities (<26 km apart) sampled within the distribution range of one of the colour forms, the brown-headed brown form. Our results revealed levels of genetic differentiation that are exceptionally high for birds at such a small spatial scale. This strong population structure appears to reflect low levels of historical and contemporary gene flow among populations, unless very close geographically (<10 km). Thus, we suggest that the Réunion grey white-eye shows an extremely reduced propensity to disperse, which is likely to be related to behavioural processes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paul Sabatier-Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: J A M
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paul Sabatier-Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Y X C
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Bourgeois
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paul Sabatier-Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Delahaie
authors.affiliation: Société Calédonienne d'Ornithologie Nord, Nouvelle-Calédonie, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Duval
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, National Museum of Natural Sciences, Spanish Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: García-Jiménez
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paul Sabatier-Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cornuault
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paul Sabatier-Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Heeb
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, National Museum of Natural Sciences, Spanish Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Milá
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paul Sabatier-Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pujol
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paul Sabatier-Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thébaud
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000235:genetics*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D051456:Gene Flow; D056426:Genetic Loci; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005838:Genotype; D005843:Geography; D007178:Inbreeding; D062312:Islands; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D009154:Mutation